New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-02-06
IN his own way. Prometheus Taught him %
lxindle flame from the celestial rays 1t was

Shall minds eye strive
Achingly to companion ms II may
The supcrsubtlc efiuence. and con'rive
To follow beam and beam upon their way ,o,r.con-
Hand-breadth by hand breadth, till sense laih'-eon
Frustiate, eluded by unknown, unguessed
Iniptude Of action Idle quest soscrv
Rather ask aid from optics sense; uesci'
The spectrum-mnd, infer immensity ,,..soa
Uitlei In little light warmth lie are Dies1e"
More than Yourself: so, good my friend, keep sul
Trustful witlI-iue : with thee sage ma""o'
Tho ,oet takes n hi,h flieht-in this piece and
s,ist aims it with splendid energy. MOTE IMAM oi,'0
he reminds us Of those two perfect lines In inc
same poem, which show
The eagle. like some skyey dcrelict.
Drift in the blue, suspended glory ing
Here is passage in which lofty thouShl IS
matched with strong beautiful, exalted ana muslcai
languagc-a passage in which we should uilihN
even the least sensitive reader must feel the
throbbing poetic impulse:
Roundinclv ND through Nights wall dense and dark
Embattled crags and clouds outhroke the sun
Above the conscious earth. and one ny one -,
Her heights and depths absorbed TO the last spark
His fluid glory from the far fine ridge -,
OF mountain. granite which, transformed to gold told
Laughed first the thanks back to the Wales DUSK io'o
On fold OF vaporswathng. like q bridge ,-.,.,.
Shattered beneath some giants stamp. NiHn' "i''
Her work done and bet ok herself IN mist
To marsh and hollow, there TO bide her Time
Blindy in acquiesccncc: Everywhcre ,,,mo
Thrilling her TO the heart of things since thero
No ran liquid no spar branehed anew grew
Glad through the inIush-glad nor more nor less
Than meath his gaze forest and wilderness and spreod
I dale, land. the whole vast streich anu spic"u'
The universal world of creatures bred
BY Suns munincence. alike gave praise.
oriass a"G h D S WHO ali scow ling
Protests AGAINST the numerous praisesi Man,
'"oh ''i Stand SadI thou forth then, state
Thy wrong thon sole oaect soW
And glad acknowledges the Douhteous ual
Daniel Barto, the historian of the Society OF
Jesus, gives occasion 30 the second discourse, n
poem in which Browning tells story of love and
sclfsaCrifice with even more than his usual SIKH
at narration. The connection Of the subject with
Rartoli is something OF puzzle. Christopher
Smart is the half-foIgotten poet who, falling Ior
IA time insane, wrote in a mad-!olse his one eoou
pocm "A Song to David" the quality OF which
he never aprroached before or afterward. Brown
i'm delights in exercising his ingenuity upon the
problem presented by this phenomenon. No
abridgment could give an ineligible account OF
| is course of speculation, which even as it stands
offers quite enough difficulty. At the end he
reaches lesson which he Is fond of reading to
modern sceptical science. DO not, he says. as
sumo to know how thines should he by laws COM
mand that is beginning at the top of the ladder
instead of Mt the bottom:
Beware lest ftmc
Ofuscate sense learn earth first presume
To teach Heaven legislation Law must be
Active In earth or nowhere: earth You see
OR there or not at ALL VIII. Power and Love
Admit discovery,--as below. above
Seek next laws confirmation But reverse
The ORDER where's the wonder things grow worse
Than by the law your fancy Terminates.
They should lie Cease from anger az INC rates
Which thwart themselves mady. Live and learn,
Not first learn and then live, Is our concern
In the pailcying with George Bubb DOdinGton
there Is an acute examination OF theories Of poli
cal management. Francis Furni, n Tuscan painter
and priest of the seventeenth century, offers tcAt
for glowing defence Of the treatment Of the nude
in art and a statement of the higher function of
art as q revercnt use Of Gods most precious gifts.
This is OF all the PIECES in the book the one in
which the poets sense Of beauty seems TO be keen
est and least obstructel by intellectual puzzles.
The passage in which the poet sketches, q sub
ject for the artist. Joan of Arc not yet transfig
urcd into heroine, but "thc peasant girl all
peasant like, spirit and fesh,' is full OF charm.
Yet 1t is in this piece, the most afiuent OF all In
sensuous delight, that Browning also makes hs
most complete reply to the atheistcal evolution
lists, uron the same lines which he lays down in
the talk with Christopher Smart. Echoes Of his
faith in the divine benefcencc rcsoun1 likewise
among the vivid desert tons IN the converse with
the Flemish painter AMI art-writcr, Gerard de
Iairessc and his sure trust in progress and i'm
mortality is chantcd at the close In ringing lines.
Pailcying with Charles Avison, musical composer
of the last century, Browning exhibits his stron-
feeling for music. his accurate knowledge Of the
art and his hqh idea of its functions. lie aprcnds
the notes Of a once famous march by AvisOn,
with some admirable comments upon its charac-
ter; and with this movement in his mind fancy
ing the brave days of lym and Ilampdcn come
again, and the shouts of tl,e Southwark train
bands rcsoundng,
Rough, rude, robustious- homely heart a-throb.
Harsh voice a-hao, as bcseems the moDl
he breaks forth with this hymn, far more sturdy
and stirring than the rather naive tune to which IL
is accommodated:
Fife, trump, drum, sound and singers then
Marching say" Pym, the man Of mcn!"
Up, heads your proudest-out thoats, your loudest-
SoneTsets Pym!"
Foes, friends, shout Pym. our citizen"
Wall. the foes he quelled,-ha, the friends he held,
"Taystocks Pym!"
Hearts prompt heads, hands that ply the pen
Teach babes unborn the where and when
-TyraDts. he braved them, patriots he saved them
"Wcstmnsers Pym!"
The epilogue is an admirable dramatic scene
between Fust, the printer, and party Of his fool
ish and suspicious friends, TO whom after much
dialogue he discloses his secret of tyres and press.
II is in the same stanza the prologue, and has
the same lyrical ling. EXuberant and quiclu'
moving, it abounds with humor, natural action
and sparkling life, and it passes finally into sage
consideration of the old problems OF knowledge
and ignorance, Of good and evil. We close the
book with refreshed sense Of Brownings great
est qualities enlarged tolerance for his obvious
faults, and with thankfulness that in time Of
trivial literature there is still serious master
whom fashionable fancics do not affect and even
age docs not enfeeblc